Arab Fighters With Terrorist Links Given Afghan Citizenship

The Second Front Page - Terrorism Digest

November 6, 2001

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of Arab fighters suspected of links to Osama bin Laden were given citizenship by the former Afghan government whose leaders are now receiving U.S. help fighting the Taliban, according to documents shown to The Associated Press by the ruling Islamic militia. The documents show that 604 people from countries such as Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were granted Afghan citizenship in March 1993 by President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Rabbani, who was ousted by the Taliban in 1996, now heads the Northern Alliance of opposition forces. The documents did not include the names of any publicly known al-Qaeda figures. However, the documents do add substance to claims by critics of the opposition Northern Alliance that some of its leading figures have maintained close ties to Islamic extremists.